Locals make a grab for Sunshine Millions

THE BAY Area has only three horses in today's inaugural Sunshine Millions,

but they might have some impact on the $3.6 million competition between California-breds and Florida-breds.

Erica's Smile and Lost at Sea will represent Florida in the $750,000 Distaff, and Ninebanks goes for California in the $500,000 Turf.

Both races are at Santa Anita, along with the $250,000 Sprint and $250,000 Oaks. Gulfstream Park has the $1 million Classic, the $350,000 Filly & Mare Turf, the $250,000 Filly & Mare Sprint and the $250,000 Dash.

"Let's face it, the fields are full, there are good horses, and I like the fact that they are going to carry this through to be an event every year," said Jerry Hollendorfer, who trains Lost at Sea and Ninebanks.

Erica's Smile finished third and Lost at Sea eighth going 7 furlongs in the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes on Dec. 28 at Santa Anita and both are accomplished at the 1 1/16-mile distance of the Distaff.

Neither distance nor racetrack seems to matter to the speedy Erica's Smile, who has won four of 11 starts and never finished worse than third while running on seven different surfaces. She won the 6-furlong Fairfield Stakes at the Solano County Fair and the 1 1/8-mile Washington Breeders' Cup Handicap at Emerald Downs 29 days apart this summer and also finished second in the Indiana Breeders' Cup Oaks at Hoosier Park.

"She's a very honest horse; you've got to beat her every time," trainer Jeff Bonde said. "She's a real free-running horse that likes to battle all the way. It takes a horse that has the mentality that can handle the stress of going someplace else, and she has it. Lots of horses start falling through the cracks when you ship them around."

Lost at Sea also is well-traveled, having won the Iowa Oaks at Prairie Meadows and the Grade 3 Singapore Plate at Arlington Park. The Malibu was her first start in 3 1/2 months.

"If you look at her numbers (speed figures) when she runs 6 or 7 furlongs, you just know she's going to bump them up when she runs long," Hollendorfer said.

Lost at Sea has won one of five starts at 7 furlongs or shorter and never achieved a Beyer Speed Figure higher than 80. She has won four of her past five going at least a mile on dirt with Beyers ranging from 83 to 102.

Until last August, Ninebanks was a gem of inconsistency, with two wins and three seconds in 20 starts. But he has two wins and two seconds in his past five, with the No. 13 post position relegating him to a seventh-place finish (but just 3 1/2 lengths behind the winner) in the California Cup Mile.

ORINDA HANDICAP: The Moment to Buy Handicap was postponed when only four horses were entered for its original running Dec. 21 and was canceled altogether when the same thing happened for its Dec. 29 rescheduling.

So anyone with a stakes-caliber filly or mare sprinter had to be relieved when six were entered for today's Orinda Handicap at GGF.

The most recent sprint stakes for fillies and mares was the Camilla Urso Handicap on Nov. 10, with Onslaught, Fertile and Bullish Miss running 1-2-3. Onslaught vied to midstretch but faded to 11th in the Monrovia Handicap on Dec.

31 at Santa Anita, but Fertile and Bullish Miss have been idle for 2 1/2 months.

"It's been very frustrating because when you have a good horse, you try to map out a schedule, and that's been obliterated with this horse," said Bonde, who trains and co-owns Fertile. "We're happy to get one to go at this point, but it abbreviates their careers. Hopefully, this will be the start of a series we can plan for."

Two more stakes for female sprinters are scheduled at GGF: the Richmond Handicap on Feb. 16 and the Soviet Problem Handicap on March 23.

BRIEFLY: Barney Willis, who trained popular Bay Area stakes winners Doonesbury and Raise Your Skirts, died on Jan. 14 at age 84. . . . Russell Baze won the Isaac Murphy Award for the eighth time in the eight years it has been given to the highest winning-percentage jockey in the United States. He won with 28.6 percent of his mounts in 2002; Jerry Bailey finished second at 25.6 percent.